The purpose of this toolkit is to provide you with information and guidance in order to become a impactful, expert young leader for SRHR. Whether you have been involved in the field of SRHR for years or are brand new, this toolkit highlights important aspects of SRHR and provides numerous additional resources to build your knowledge and capacity to take action. Divided into four major sections, each builds upon the previous: Section 1: Appreciating Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. First, you will learn some background information on what SRHR mean, and how your rights must be
respected, protected, and fulfilled. You will have the opportunity to explore the links and resources provided to learn more about some of the different treaties and instruments that serve to protect your rights. You will also read about why meaningful youth participation matters for young people’s SRHR. Section 2: Gathering Information and Evidence on Young People’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Next, you will be guided through an investigation of the status of SRHR in your community and country. You will use the resources and links provided to research country-specific statistics, governmental policies, health programs, and campaigns related to young people’s SRHR. You will also focus your attention on whether or not SRHR education and services are accessible and youthcentered. Throughout this section, you are encouraged to keep note of the issues you find particularly interesting or distressing. Section 3. Affecting Change for Young People’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights In this section, you will learn about what it means to respect, protect, and fulfill young people’s SRHR by exploring different approaches to action – from raising awareness, to community organization, to advocacy for policy change. There are examples of tactics and strategies, as well as resources, for you to learn more about specific approaches and get you thinking about how you may want to take action.
Section 4: Developing a Strategy for Change. At this point, how you choose to use the information and evidence you have gathered on SRHR is up to you. You will learn about the basic components of developing a strategy for change. You’ll think
more about which issue within youth SRHR you want to focus on and the change you want to affect. You’ll develop a goal, objectives, and key messages based on your target audience, and you will be introduced to tactics that will allow you to effectively share your message and call to action. And finally, you will go through a brief explanation of key principles for an effective strategy, such as monitoring and evaluation, fundraising, and developing proposals so you have the tools to move forward on your own.